The Toddler Gangster
by lightening816
Summary: A fanfic of the show Baby Looney Tunes; long before he turned to crime and met Mugsy, a child named Rocky found himself attacked by a conflict of morals overpowering desires, while at the same time having to tolerate an unwanted trip to Granny's house.


The Toddler Gangster

Lightening816

The three year old dark haired boy knelt in the hallway as he eavesdropped on the conversation his parents were currently having. All they were talking about were plans of visiting an old friend for their summer vacation. Not very exciting, in his opinion, but then again, nobody asked for it. The parents had decided to take this trip, considering the fact that the place the old friend lived was not only a beautiful place to be in during the summer months, but that the old friend was currently providing shelter for a young group of children around the boy's age, so there was sure to be no way that he could be lonely. The little boy was angered. When he thought of summer vacation, he pictured himself running off to some sort of faraway place that was the very opposite of boring. The place they were apparently going to was only five hours away, and it was plain, in fact too plain. His home was a neighborhood of apartments and giant buildings in New York City. The old friend's neighborhood was a collection similar looking houses and picket fences; how exciting. For some three year olds, this may not have meant much for their simple minds. However, the child's mind was anything but simple.

"I'm not going," said the little boy with his arms folded. After almost another half an hour, his parents had ended the conversation, found kneeling in the hallway and had decided to discuss with him what they had discussed with each other. They all walked to his little bedroom where they sat and talked away.  
>"But, Rocky, you'll have so much fun. There will be a group of children that you'll be able to play with and you might even make new friends. Where we're going, we'll all have all sorts of things to see and do," replied his mother. Rocky looked at his mother with an annoyed look. As his mother brushed his black hair from his face, he started to complain more.<br>"They might make fun of me 'cause I'm short! And I hate being called short!" he said in a huff. Rocky's father stepped in.  
>"Rocky, we don't use that loud tone of voice in this house," he said sternly.<br>"I know, I know, but why can't I just stay here? You guys can go, but I'm not going," Rocky replied in protest.  
>"Because…we'd miss you!" his mother said, hoping to make her son agree with the decision. "And besides, you're too young to stay here all by yourself."<br>"Yes I am! I can eat my food and put on my clothes and brush my teeth! I can take care of myself," he protested angrily. It was true that despite being so young, the toddler was intelligent enough to do very simple everyday things. As was said before, Rocky was not simple minded. Rocky's tone of voice was beginning to really upset his father.  
>"Rocky, don't get angry at us! You're too young to care of yourself and it'll be good for you! We're doing this for you," his father stated strongly.<br>"I don't care! I'm not going!" yelled Rocky.

The little boy may have been intelligent, but he was still a child. And like with every other person in the world, when choices are made, there must be consequences. For Rocky, wrong choices such as yelling, lying, and stealing often resulting in a lecture from father, a quick spanking, and, sometimes, a few minutes in the corner, staring boringly at the wall. Rocky did get the lecture, and the spanking, and the few minutes in the corner, but the little boy was not fazed by it.  
>Rocky didn't mind yelling, lying, and stealing, especially when he had told himself that he would undo the damage later, as means of convincing himself. His parents had assumed that this was typical behavior for children. They realize mistakes, receive consequences, and may have to be reminded afterwards. For Rocky, however, he felt like these sins he committed at such a young age meant something more. The problem was that he just could not think of it. These simple mistakes like saying "no" when the truth was that "yes, I did eat cookies before dinner," "yes, I did look inside your purse," and "yes, I did yell at those kids because they made me mad." These simple comments seemed so easy to forgive and forget about for other children his age, but for Rocky, they were unforgettable, mind consuming, and repetitive.<p>

But the strangest part of this issue is not because of its constant reoccurrences, or the lies, or the stealing and yelling. No, the strangest part was simply that sometimes he liked it! He liked getting that rush of energy coming from the fact that he did something wrong and got away with it in that point in time. He sometimes looked forward to that tingly feeling he had in his stomach whenever his parents were onto him, and he enjoyed watching other kids following his orders.

Of course, like other children, he did not enjoy the lectures, the spankings, and the minutes in the corner. During those times, he felt trapped and imprisoned, like there was no way for him to escape his father's angry voice, his hand, and that hated place in the house used as the consequence corner.

But no matter the fact that the lecture, the spanking, and the corner's visit happened. The vacation was still going to happen, and frankly, Rocky knew that he was not going to enjoy, no matter how kind the old friend and her little band of children were, the little boy felt like this trip was going to boring, uninteresting and bland.

Two more months of the dread that Rocky felt did not prevent the long drive that resulted one early Friday morning. The little boy sat in his car seat unhappily as he let his eyes droop over his eyes. The child had not received much sleep due to the vacation clouding his mind. He had no trouble getting to sleep as the car his parents drove in left New York City and drove many miles down south. With five hours of sleep to catch up on, Rocky let himself drift away into unconsciousness, with nothing but the sounds of the moving vehicle around him.


End file.
